iFfitral  Cnunril  nf  tijp  (Hljurrlffa 
of  (fljriat  in  Antmra 

A STATEMENT  OF  ITS  PLAN,  PURPOSE  AND  WORK 


Historical  Sketch 


The  Federal  Council  held  its  first  meeting  at  Philadelphia  in  19O8  and 
was  largely  the  culmination  of  previous  voluntary,  federative  movements,  the 
chief  of  which  had  been  the  Evangelical  Alliance  and  the  National  Federa- 
tion of  Churches  and  Christian  Workers.  The  important  preliminary  work 
leading  up  to  the  organization  was  accomplished  by  the  Interchurch  Con- 
ference on  Federation  held  in  Carnegie  Hall,  New  York  City,  in  1905,  a 
body  composed  of  ofiicial  delegates  from  thirty  denominations  convened 
through  the  initiative  of  the  National  Federation  of  Churches  and  Christian 
Workers.  This  conference  adopted  the  Constitution  of  the  Federal  Council 
and  transmitted  it  to  the  various  denominations  with  the  understanding 
that  approval  by  two-thirds  of  them  would  give  it  full  effect.  This  approval 
was  secured  early  in  1908. 

The  difference  between  the  Federal  Council  and  the  previous  move- 
ments is  that  it  is  not  an  individual  or  voluntary  agency,  or  simply  an  inter- 
denominational fellowship,  but  is  an  officially  and  ecclesiastically  constituted 
body. 

It  is  differentiated  from  other  general  movements  for  the  manifestation 
of  Christian  Unity  in  the  fact  that  it  is  the  eo-operation  of  the  various  de- 
nominations for  service  rather  than  an  attempt  to  unite  them  upon  definitions 
of  theology  and  polity. 


Constituency 


Its  constituent  bodies  are  as  follows: 

The  Baptist  Churches,  North 

The  National  Baptist  Convention  (colored) 

The  Free  Baptist  Churches 

The  Christian  Church 

The  Congregational  Churches 

The  Disciples  of  Christ 

The  Friends 

The  German  Evangelical  Synod 


The  Evangelical  Association 

The  Evangelical  Lutheran  Churchy  General  S3uio(l 

The  Mennonite  Church 

The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 

The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South 

The  African  M.  E.  Church 

The  African  M.  E.  Zion  Church 

The  Colored  M.  E.  Cliurch  in  America 

The  Methodist  Protestant  Church 

Tlie  Moravian  Church 

The  Presbjderian  Church  in  the  U.  S.  A. 

The  PresbjTerian  Church  in  the  U.  S.  (South) 

The  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  (Commissions  on  Christian  Unity  and 
Social  Service) 

The  Reformed  Cliurch  in  America 
The  Reformed  Church  in  U.  S. 

The  Reformed  Episcopal  Church 

The  Reformed  Presbyterian  Church,  General  Sjmod 

The  Seventh  Day  Baptist  Church 

Tlie  United  Brethren  Church 

The  United  Evangelical  Church 

The  United  PresbjTerian  Church 

The  Welsh  Presbyterian  Church 

It  does  not  interfere  with  the  autonomy  of  these  bodies  and  its  Constitu- 
tion specificall}'  states  that  “The  Federal  Council  shall  have  no  authority 
over  the  constituent  bodies  adhering  to  it;  but  its  province  shall  be  limited  to 
the  expression  of  its  counsel  and  the  recommending  of  a course  of  action  in 
matters  of  common  interest  to  the  churches,  local  councils  and  individual 
Christians.  It  has  no  authority  to  draw  up  a common  creed  or  form  of 
gm  ernment  or  of  worship,  or  in  any  way  to  limit  the  full  autonomy  of  the 
Christian  bodies  adhering  to  it.” 

The  basis  and  limitations  of  its  constituency  are  indicated  by  the 
preamble  to  the  Constitution,  which  reads  as  follows:  “In  the  providence 
of  God,  the  time  has  come  when  it  seems  fitting  more  fully  to  manifest  the 
essential  oneness  of  the  Christian  Churches  of  America,  in  Jesus  Christ 
as  their  Divine  Lord  and  Saviour,  and  to  promote  the  spirit  of  fellowship, 
service  and  co-operation  among  them.” 


Organization 

The  Federal  Council  meets  quadrennially  and  consists  of  about  four 
hundred  qualified  delegates  officially  elected  by  the  various  denominational 
assemblies  or  other  constituted  authorities. 

Its  Executive  Committee  consists  of  about  ninety  of  these  delegates  and 
acts  for  the  Council  during  the  Quadrennium  between  its  sessions,  holding 
regular  meetings. 

The  Executive  Committee  has  an  Administrative  Committee,  holding 
regular  monthly  meetings,  which  acts  for  the  Executive  Committee  between 
its  sessions. 

The  national  office  and  its  executives,  under  the  Administrative  Com- 
mittee, carry  on  the  continuous  work  of  the  Council. 


The  Nature  of  its  Work 

The  united  work  undertaken  by  the  Council  is  indicated  by  the  titles 
of  its  Commissions. 

These  Commissions  are  as  follows:  State  and  Local  Federations,  For- 
eign Missions,  Home  Missions,  Christian  Education,  Social  Service,  Evan- 
gelism, Family  Life,  Sunday  Observance,  Temperance,  and  Peace  and  Arbi- 
tration. 

The  Commission  on  the  Church  and  Social  Service  has  been,  up  to 
this  time,  the  most  effectively  organized  because  its  work  seemed  to  offer 
the  larger  immediate  field  for  common  action.  This  Commission  also  has  a 
Committee  on  the  Church  and  Country  Life.  The  Commissions  on  Peace  and 
Arbitration  and  on  Evangelism  also  have  offices  and  executive  secretaries. 

Other  special  Commissions,  such  as  the  Joint  Commission  on  Theological 
Seminaries,  on  Interdenominational  Movements  and  on  International  Re- 
lations, are  appointed  from  time  to  time  to  take  up  special  activities  calling 
for  action  upon  the  part  of  the  churches. 

The  Functions  of  the  Council 

One  of  the  important  results  of  the  work  during  the  first  Quadrennium 
has  been  the  development  of  a more  intimate  acquaintance  and  a better  un- 
derstanding between  the  great  bodies  in  the  Council  through  working  to- 
gether and  through  the  larger  view  which  each  has  gained  of  the  other’s  work 
by  means  of  this  mutual  relation.  This  bond  of  fellowsliip  has  constantly 
and  rapidly  become  stronger.  One  of  the  chief  tasks  of  the  Council  is  that 
of  educating  the  churches  in  the  interest  of  united  action. 

Its  general  functions  require  careful  development,  owing  to  the  wide 
variety  in  ecclesiastical  polity  among  its  various  constituent  bodies.  It  is 
generally  conceded,  however,  that  it  should  represent  and  declare  the  com- 
mon conscience  of  the  Christian  churches  upon  important  questions  with 
regard  to  which  the  common  consciousness  of  Christianity  is  practically  unani- 
mous. This  is  best  illustrated  by  its  declarations  on  the  problems  of  the 
social  order  and  concerning  the  moral  life  of  the  nation.  For  example,  upon 
such  questions  as  international  peace  no  concerted  action  can  be  taken  except 
by  such  a comprehensive  representative  body  as  the  Council. 

One  of  its  important  functions  is  the  constant  creation  on  the  part  of 
the  churches  of  a state  of  mind  which  has  deepened  their  sense  of  fellow- 
ship. This  it  accomplishes  by  bringing  together  upon  every  possible  occa- 
sion its  widely  varying  elements  for  consultation  and  common  action.  This 
is  illustrated  by  such  a movement  as  the  co-ordination  of  the  religious  forces 
of  the  nation  for  work  together  during  the  Panama-Pacific  Exposition. 

The  national  office  of  the  Council  is  creating  a large  body  of  literature 
calculated  to  increase  and  deepen  the  sense  of  fellowship  and  develop  united 
action  upon  the  part  of  the  churches  and  to  set  forth  their  common  obligations. 

State  and  Local  Federations 

While  the  Federal  Council  is  constituted  solely  of  the  national  denomina- 
tions, it  has  a co-operative  relationship  with  state  and  local  federations. 

The  weakness  or  effectiveness  of  local  federations  is  determined  for  the 
most  part  by  local  situations  and  is  largely  dependent  upon  the  community 
sense  of  unity  and  fraternity. 

The  national  office  by  correspondence,  literature  and  secretarial  visita- 
tion, is  continuously  engaged  in  propagating  this  work.  There  are  now 
twenty-one  State  Federations  and  about  one  hundred  and  tliirty  City  and 
County  Federations. 


Financial  Support 

The  national  office  sustains  at  the  present  time  only  one  Secretary  for 
its  general  work,  but  with  the  task  of  reaching  so  many  forces  the  demand 
upon  its  clerical  staff  is  of  necessity  large. 

An  Associate  Secretary  is  located  at  Washington,  D.  C. 

The  various  denominations  are  called  upon  for  a small  apportionment 
which,  however,  even  if  fully  met,  would  cover  less  than  half  the  expenses 
of  the  national  office. 

At  its  recent  quadrennial  meeting  in  Chicago  the  Council  instructed  the 
treasurer  to  seek  for  the  remaining  amount  from  individual  subscriptions,  and 
from  appropriations  in  the  budgets  of  individual  churches. 

Correlation  and  unification  unquestionably  mean  efficiency  and  economy. 
Tlie  work  which  the  various  denominations  are  brought  to  do  in  common 
costs  very  much  less  than  it  does  when  each  denomination  attempts  it  in- 
dependently. 

The  subscriptions  in  the  main  are  sought  for  the  national  office  and 
the  Washington  office  of  the  Council  itself.  The  Commission  on  the  Church 
and  Social  Service  is  maintained  by  a large  number  of  sustaining  member- 
ships of  small  and  moderate  amounts.  This  Commission’s  department  of 
the  Church  and  Country  Life  is  sustained  by  special  appropriation.  The 
Peace  and  Arbitration  Commission  is  maintained  by  a special  gift  for  the 
purpose,  and  the  Commission  on  Evangelism  is  responsible  for  the  main- 
tenance of  its  particular  work. 

All  into  whose  hands  this  brief  description  falls  are  earnestly  requested 
to  acquaint  themselves  with  the  Council  as  the  one  official  and  immediately 
practical  expression  of  the  conviction  and  desire  for  that  co-operation  and 
fellowship  in  service  which  are  so  powerfully  influencing  the  Christian  pur- 
pose of  our  time.  Full  information  may  be  obtained  by  writing  to  the  Sec- 
retary, Rev.  Charles  S.  Macfarland,  6l2  United  Charities  Building,  105 
East  22d  St.,  New  York  City,  or  to  the  denominational  representatives  on 
the  Executive  Committee. 


iFfberal  (Eoutirtl  of  OIt|iurrl|P0  of  Olljrwt  in  Antfrira 


PROF.  SHAILER  MATHEWS 
President 

REV.  FRANK  MASON  NORTH 
Chairman  of  the  Executive  Committee 

REV.  WILLIAM  I.  HAVEN 
Chairman  of  the  Administrative  Committee 


REV.  E.  B.  SANFORD 
Honorary  Secretary 

REV.  RIVINGTON  D.  LORD 
Recording  Secretary 

ALFRED  R.  KIMBALL 
Treasurer 


REV.  CHARLES  S.  MACFARLAND 
Secretary  of  the  Council 

REV.  HENRY  K.  CARROLL 
Associate  Secretary 


NATIONAL  OFFICE,  612  UNITED  CHARITIES  BUILDING, 
105  EAST  22d  STREET,  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


L 50 


OFFICE  AT  WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  1114  WOODWARD  BUILDING 


